No, Luka Doncic Is not retiring: Los Angeles Lakers star reacts to ‘closest friend’ Luka Rupnik’s retirement post

The NBA season ended early for Luka Doncic after the Los Angeles Lakers ended their playoff run by losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 26-year-old, who was at the center of attention after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers, has now shared a retirement post from home with the name of Luka Rupnik. The post is, however, not about his own retirement but that of his Slovenian close friend Luka Rupnik, who had mentioned his name in his long retirement post. But this was enough to leave many confused.Luka Rupnik is a basketball player from Slovenia who plays for San Pablo Burgos of the Spanish LEB Oro. He shared a post about his retirement from the sport. Rupnik and Dončić once played together on the Slovenian national team. Mentioning Luka Doncic in his retirement post, Rupnik wrote, “To my Slovenian brothers that we went through all the battles (klemen prepelic, edo muric, matic rebec and all others..) - thank you. Special s/o to my two closest friends jaka blažIč and luka dončIć. Luka, watching your rise and mature to the top of the basketball world has been incredible..And the best is yet to come.”A portion of the post also read: “Wearing the slovenian national team jersey for nearly two decades has been one of the greatest honors of my life. Representing my country on the olympic stage, with slovenia across my chest, is something I will carry with pride for the rest of my life. Favourite team I was ever part of.”He ended the post, writing, “As I look ahead to the next chapter, I do so with a full and thankful heart. This game gave me everything. And I gave it everything I had. With deepest gratitude.”Luka Doncic reacted to Rupnik’s post on Instagram by dropping a few heart emoticons in the comments section. Around the same time, pictures of Luka watching a basketball game were shared by fan pages. A post read: "ABA League 2 Final. Ilirija vs Bosna. Luka Dončić at the game."However, fans quickly realized it was Luka Rupnik and not Dončić who was announcing his retirement. An X user did ask, “Did Luka Doncic Just Retire Or I’m Reading Too Much Into This #Lakeshow.”Also Read: Luka Doncic trade: Reporter reveals Dallas Mavericks coach Jason Kidd’s frustration with the NBA star was "quite high"Luka Doncic’s current average is 28.2 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 7.7 assists per game. His career average across 450 regular-season games is 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds, and 8.2 assists.